Consider the Sparrow… June 23, 2008

As of late, my job hangs in a rather delicate balance.  So, I try to just simply be aware of my thoughts which is a tremendous remedy for a worrier like me!  I’ve also been praying a lot!  I know God is in control–I know He has a plan…

However, this morning I awoke at 3:40am and those daunting thoughts immediately began to seep into my mind again.  So I went downstairs, turned in circles and came back upstairs and turned off our bedroom fan.  Turning the fan off left a silence that almost deafened me.  I climbed back into bed and began calming myself with prayers.  Just then I started hearing the sweet pre-dawn tune of the songbirds in the distance.  Everything was so still and all I could hear was their singing.  I thought of the Bible verse to consider the sparrows:   “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.”  Matthew 10:29NIV…..I welled up with tears and goosebumps as I felt God’s gentle rush of peace come over me.

 

Heatwave Happenings June 12, 2008

Summer came with a bang on Saturday, temps reaching 98 and the same for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  It was crazy!  Daisy and Bo didn’t move for four days…they just laid on their backs and slept

  I snapped this shot mid-meow!

AND!  Our back yard has become nursery to 3 new babies!  We found a robin’s nest tucked in the corner of the fence in a berry tree!  The babies hid their fuzzy little heads when I came out to snap a shot.  The mama was going absolutely bazooka on the fence nearby so I snapped this and left…stay tuned!

Spicin’ Up the Kitchen June 9, 2008

We’ve lived in this house for nearly 2 years and the eyesore that is our kitchen is simply embarrassing.  I find myself apologizing to anyone who comes over for the “mess”….the ripped drywall from removing the wallpaper…the burnt flooring from when I put a Pyrex 9×13 on a hot burner by mistake and it exploded……..  and it echos, which I hate! 

So, while we waiting for our “dream kitchen” to manifest itself in our lives, I finally had enough and decided to make it perty.  Enough is enough, right?!  Summertime is here and that means plenty of guests will be trapsing through the kitchen to get to cookouts in our back-yard.  Time to make it at least presentable!

So I found some great deals!  One being a small humble island from Crate and Barrel and two rush stools and rugs that were on clearance at Pier I!  I also changed all the knobs from big ugly green balls to nice brushed iron knobs and birdcage pulls.  The floor is what it is.  The countertop is what it is.  But I brought things in to work with what we hope and plan to do with the kitchen this summer (or Lord-willing near future).  I rearranged all the contents of our cabinets to facilitate how I like to function as a cook.  And I cleaned out the kitchen closet which we will be using as a pantry.  For now the wood shelving will stay, but eventually we’ll replace it with rack shelving.  OH!  And I also took a hammer and whacked down this ugly wood scalloping that was over the kitchen windows.  Took me all day Saturday, but it doesn’t clean up half bad!! (and, no more echo!)

 

    Daisy found a nice niche!

Calin worked most of the weekend, but managed to open the pool….he still has to normalize the chemicals, but it’s almost there!  No more algae!!

 

Heart-Attack Tuesday June 4, 2008

Daisy and Bo are indoor cats who, besides our bedroom and the bathrooms (they love faucets/water), have free reign of our house.  Yesterday I couldn’t find them and I was beginning to think they escaped outside *gasp*.  I was running around the house calling them and after a good 10 minutes my heart was nearly in my mouth.  Then something possessed me to look up…..and there they were atop the tv cupboard which stands about 5 feet tall!!!

 

A Work in Progress June 4, 2008

This weekend, Hubs and I shared in one of the many *joys* of home ownership–caring for the lawn/landscaping.  I’m thankful we don’t have much land because what we do have is a butt-buster to care for.  It’s the only “hired-help” I’ve ever considered.  Our front yard needs an update and our driveway some TLC.  So we tackled Phase I of our plans to do so.  Last weekend Calin tore God-only-knows-what in his back from trying to pull those massive shrubs out.  To get the roots out, he had to tie them to his truck and drive!  We suffered a week of the embarrassment of a giant dirt pit and open exposure of the house’s foundation. 

This weekend, thankfully, I had a $79 credit on a Lowe’s card to buy some much needed soil, so Sunday morning we went and loaded up 9 bags, 2 of which were organic matter for the back veggie garden–all tallying up to $77.24 (perfect!).   We got home and I went in the back to spruce up the raised flowerbeds along the back of the house, while Calin raked up the veggie garden’s soil and put the new rich soil down.  I planted 4 different types of tomatoes plants (love that lycopene!), yellow peppers, red peppers, hot peppers (Calin’s fav), basil and parsley!

Then we moved to the front–Calin worked gingerly to remove the grass between the bed and the front walk.  What hard work it was to level it all off!  7 bags of new soil was dumped on the left side of the steps–and even then, it could use at least 3 bags more.  It will then be planted with sun-loving plants and flowers.

The other half is horribly low in soil and you can see more of the foundation.  That will need at least 20 bags of soil and will have more part-sun and shade lovers.

The side yard has a large circle of dirt where the forsythia jungle was.  We’re leaving 1 root and there’s already grass re-growing.  Eventually I’d like to plant some hostas on the side of the house but for now we have a mass of lily of the valley going wild.

Here’s what we accomplished this weekend:

  

SIDE YARD-no more forsythia!  (and a not-too-pleased-that-I’m-taking-his-picture-Calin)

Grow, garden GROW!

  

A Wedding Anniversary May 27, 2008

Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary.  On three occurances, either one or both of us were told, “Well, the first 2 are the roughest so, this one you will enjoy!!”  ha!  …which isn’t to say we haven’t enjoyed these last two but they certainly have been trying for a number of different reasons so we’re hoping God has a down-hill slope in store for us vs an upwards.  Given our tight financial status right now, we couldn’t go out for a night on the town.  I must admit, my inner brat would like to pout and moan that we DESERVE a night out together!  Heck, we didn’t even go on a honeymoon 2 years ago because we couldn’t afford one after footing the wedding bill!   But we are both down to earth…we see reality…and we both would be miserable if we were to use a credit card (we despise them!) and go out to dinner anyways – there would be nothing romantic or celebratory about the dinner–just thoughts of 20+some-odd% we’d be paying ontop of our already expensive dinner!

So!  What did we do?  Well, first off, we were blessed with an absolutely GORGEOUS day!  We did go to the Airport Cafe which is our summertime FAVORITEST breakfast location.  We sat outside, enjoyed the sun and split a $4 plate of eggy goodness and watched the cute little antique planes take off and land.  Then we went home and Calin fixed a tire on my car and worked on his bike while I filled our window boxes, pots and barrels with lots of flowers.  Later Calin and I hopped on his bike and rode up the coast.  When we came back we had a nice dinner of grilled chicken on our back deck and nice bottle of red.  I don’t think having some posh day out would have made it feel any more special.  We still feel blessed with all God has given us, including our freedoms we have in this country and each other!  We are excited about the many more years we have to come.

In memory of that happy day, I’ve pasted a link here to our wedding photoshow:  http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/QP6Ne9Qa

 

I’ve been tagged… May 21, 2008

 I’ve been tagged by Shanna!  Check out her blog!  And now to answer some questions…

Favorite person (outside family)?  no 1 in particular

Favorite food?   something healthy and tastey–and I have many favorites

Quirks about you?   neat freak

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less?   I asked Calin:  here are his words– “sweet little peanut with a cute butt and very nice teeth  (LOL!!!!)

Any regrets in life?   A couple but those things make me who I am today

Favorite Charity/ Cause?   hmmm, I donate to the Salvation Army a lot!

Favorite Blog recently?  none really…been pretty busy

Something you can’t get enough of?  my home–I never get sick of being home puting around in the garden or painting or decorating, etc….I’m a major homebody!

Worst job you’ve ever had?   Customer Service at PCC–I HATED it

What job would you pay NOT to have?   cleaning other people’s stuff.  ick.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where?    no where…I have enough to deal with in my own life!

Favorite Bible verse right now?   Trust in the Lord w/ all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…in all your ways ackowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Guilty Pleasure?   getting my hair and facials done at the spa I go to

Got any confessions?   nope

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it?    a little getaway for hubs and me.

Favorite thing about your house?   I love that it’s the perfect size for us

Least favorite thing about your house?  the torn up kitchen and bathroom–it’s an eyesore right now!!

One thing you are bad at?  calling people–I hate being on the phone!

One thing you’re good at?  organizing

If you could change something about your circumstances, what?   Without a doubt it would be quitting my job and help my husband run his business and also do some interior designing on my own. (one day that will happen!!)

Who would you like to meet someday?  no one in particular

What makes you feel sexy?  just feeling fit and healthy (fitting into all my favorites jeans helps too)

 Who is your real life hero?  people who overcome tremendous odds

What is the hardest part of your job?  knowing I’ve outgrown it

When are you most relaxed?   When I’m not working

What stresses you out?   money (thus I continue to work!!

What can you not live without?  My husband and 2 cats ( I love them all too much!)

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists?  Me and the people I blog for/with is not to trump my life by any means. (duh.)  Our families and friends like to see what’s going on in our life and they do the same because we’re all far away from each other!  I also enjoy the creativity.

Why do you blog?  see above.

Who are you tagging?
anyone who reads this!

Okay - rules:
1. Answer the questions (Did I really have to include this as a rule? Duh!)
2. Link back to whoever tagged you
3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same, 2 from each category.
New/ newer bloggers (since we want to share the love and send them traffic)
Bloggy friends
Bloggers you’d like to get to know better
Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will.

Update on the Homefront May 16, 2008

The past 2 months Calin has been working pretty feverishly to secure a project.  He’s very excited about the project and about the fact that it would secure work for him throughout the summer months, which is a God-send considering slumping housing market and general economy.  Because it is such a large project, it’s taking a lot of time to pull quotes and approvals from the town together.  We’re trying to be patient, however the interim has made things pretty darn stressful financially.  I always look back and see God’s provision time and time again, so I’m trying to remain a positive force for Calin as he is stressed beyond belief!  But, in all reality, it really seems as if he will land this job.  I just think he wants to get MOVING on it and get some money flowing again.  He told me last night that if everything with the permit goes smoothly, he can present the owners with the final quote and upon their acceptance, commence to start already!!  We will keep you posted.

In other news, we were able to get out last weekend and clean up the backyard.  What a difference!  As soon as this nippy weather dissapates, I’ll start planting my flowers.  We still have yet to yank the front bushes, but there’s really no rush as the temperatures are still *iffy.*  Calin did however manage to fight the forsythia jungle with only my trimmers and tame it into a petite and gentle shrub. (look!  we have neighbors!)

My patience has been tested with our upstairs bathroom.  It’s been a work in progress since November.  That is 7 long months!  At first we were going to quick fix it to make it easier on the eyes.  But that has only proven dissatisfactory to lil ol’ perfectionist me.  After Calin rebuilt the vanity base, I went looking for a new countertop.  I fell in love with a granite piece at Lowes for a killer price so we went home to measure and think about it.  We realized with the tile presently in there, it would look horrendous to put a nice slab of granite up against it!  We both sat on the bathroom floor and agreed that since we’ll be in the house a long time, we might as well do it right.  So now everything is coming down.  We’ll basically gut the entire room and start fresh.  The only thing wasted is a bit of paint as I can return the faucet and hardware I bought and the fixtures and mirror will stay the same.  Not unlike our downstairs bathroom, it will take a lot of work but very little money (hallelujah!) to redo them.

Calin and I love our house.  I’ve had close to 2 years to really contemplate how to renovate things.  I’m almost thankful we were financially held back from fixing everything right away (almost).   I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to see how these two newlyweds live and what would fit best with our lives.  Now, I’ve got it all down pat.  Lord-willing we’ll be able to do most of those renovations this year.  I LOVE this kind of stuff!

…..tomorrow I’m going to spend the day w/ Shanna in CT….I’m very excited.  We’ve been IM’ing nonstop since our short visit in April!  We’re also meeting a few friends for lunch–people I haven’t seen since 1995!  Should be interesting!  That’s ’bout all on the homefront!  TTFN!

Bo May 11, 2008

My little handsome man….I know, people, he’s a cat, but his eyes are truly his best asset.  He’s beautiful–and he’s lucky because he is a major brat most of the time!

I snapped this shot this sunny morning while he was staring outside at a robin on our lawn.

 

“OK, mom, now I’m sleepy!”   

Leftover Coconut May 11, 2008

So I had some leftover coconut that I wanted to make a dessert out of which turned into this quest to find a recipe that was also “vegan” (which means dairy-free and without all the processed junk).  I found a fairly easy recipe for a coconut double-layer beauty and decided to take a whack at it.  (the recipe came from a vegan blog called “Vegalicious”…or something like that.)

The cake batter was pretty easy and quick to whip up; some ingredients being  unprocessed pastry flour, unrefined cane sugar, soy yogurt, coconut milk…things I had on-hand anyways. 

Then came the frosting!  Aaaaw, frosting.  I love sweets so frosting is very important to me.  Now, anyone who has tried to make frosting without butter or regular white sugar can vouch for the fact that vegan frosting is the pits!  It usually comes out runny or too crunchy and ruins the whole cake!  Ms. Vegalicious’ frosting called for more coconut milk, cornstarch, non-hydrog shortening, non-dairy *margarine*, sucanat (cuz I ran out of the finer unprocessed cane sugar), vanilla and coconut extracts, and optional powdered sugar in case the baker MUST have more fluff to his/her frosting. (Are you noticing I haven’t even used my leftover coconut yet??)

So I whip away….first turning the coconut milk and cornstarch into a thick and finally *jello-y* type substance.  Set that aside, then turned to my remaining ingredients and following the rest of the directions to a T.  Praise God for my Kitchenaid mixer.  I was able to whip this stuff into a very fluffy and super light frosting…..and did add a smidge of the R-rated powdered sugar cuz it desparately needed more sweetness.  ( I know, I know shame on me!)  The color of the frosting didn’t turn out to be that heavenly white you see on coconut cakes but that was because I used sucanat which is pure cane sugar prior to being bleached in cow bones!  Sucanat is a light brown color, so my frosting turned a marvelous mocha color.  Oh well!  My neglected bag of coconut to the rescue! (the reason for this rutkus in the first place!)   I patted the entire cake with a layer of shredded coconut……

…and then I stared at my masterpiece (hardly) covered it, turned off the kitchen light and settled down to watch a movie.   Calin and I each wolfed down a big piece today after 4 hours of backbreaking yard work.  And my my!  It is yummy!!!  You know when your hubby closes his eyes after each bite that you’ve created something mmmm good!  This recipe is going in my recipebox!!